


of dragons and dances

by Mallowleaf



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dragon!Roman, Fantasy AU, M/M, Masquerade Ball, Prince!Logan, Sander Sides Secret Santa 2019, dragon lore that i made up on the spot, knight!virgil, shapeshifter!Roman, they get together at the end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-24 21:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22124881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mallowleaf/pseuds/Mallowleaf
Summary: There were certain things about life that Logan had come to expect. Being trained all his life to approach things one problem at a time meant that he was rarely taken off guard.Being being kidnapped by a dragon, however, was not one of those things he had expected.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54
Collections: Sanders Sides Secret Santa 2019





	of dragons and dances

There were certain things about life that Logan had come to expect. Being trained all his life to approach things one problem at a time meant that he was rarely taken off guard. 

Being being kidnapped by a dragon, however, was not one of those things he had expected. 

He hung hundreds of miles above the ground, and the only thing stopping gravity from tightening his grip on him were the dragon’s claws that were winded around his chest. In the back of his mind, Logan was aware that he should probably be more upset about the turn of events. He was just  _ kidnapped _ . By a  _ dragon. _ How much of a cliche could he be? 

All he had done was go out and stand in the garden for maybe five minutes, at the request of his adviser, who seemed to think he was working too hard for his own good. Just a quick break, they said, and then Logan could come back to work. Surely a small break couldn’t hurt? 

Look how wrong they had been. 

So yes, a logical mindset to this situation was to be worried. What was the dragon planning to do to him when they got to the ground? There were endless possibilities, most of which didn’t end too well for Logan. He should have been scared, trying to come up with some plan of escape for when they finally reached the ground. But all Logan could come up with was a vague sense of amusement. 

Prince Logan, kidnapped by a dragon. The kingdom would have a field day with this. 

Above him, the dragon made a sharp turn, and then began to descend. The sudden drop in altitude made Logan’s stomach twist uneasily. The air whipped around him, throwing his hair into his face. He squinted down at the ground, trying to see where the dragon was headed. His glasses were grasped tightly in his hands; the moment he realized what was happening, he had pulled them off in an attempt to prevent them from being lost. The last thing he needed was to be nearly blind in the presence of a dragon. 

From his limited vision, Logan could see that they were headed in the direction of what looked like a gaping hole in the base of a small mountain. A cave then. Wonderful. This cliche just kept getting better. 

The cave itself was dark, nearly pitch black, and the only source of light was the opening of the cave behind them, which slowly began to fade as they went deeper and deeper into the cave. A small spike of fear twisted in Logan’s throat for the first time. The further he went into this cave, the harder it would be for him to find his way out. With no source of light and barely any landmarks to remember, the chances of him getting out quickly were getting smaller. 

They began to pitch downwards again, startling Logan. He unconsciously clutched at the claws around him, trying to find a grip as they went down further to the cave. 

And then the claws around his midsection were gone, and for a heart-stopping moment Logan thought the dragon had dropped him down into an abyss, leaving him to fall to his death. But then he collided with the ground, rolled a few feet, and came to a stop on his back. The light from the outside of the cave shined weakly a good distance above him. 

At least the dragon had enough courtesy to drop him when they were at the bottom of the valley in the cave. 

He pushed himself up into a sitting position, shoving the glasses onto his face. It didn’t do much -- there wasn’t anything he could actually see in the near pitch black darkness -- but the familiar weight of the glasses on his nose gave him a small sense of control over what was happening. 

Somewhere near him, Logan could hear the dragon moving around. And then, a wave of heat hit him as fire burst out of the dragon’s jaw. Logan flinched backwards, convinced that the dragon was attempting to burn him alive right then and there. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stomp down on the panic that tore at his chest. 

And then, as soon as it came, the heat faded to a much more manageable level -- and Logan was still there, whole and unburned. He opened his eyes, and had to squint against the light thrown across the floor by the flickering fire that was now burning on the floor. 

And standing on the opposite side of the fire, with the sparks dancing around its scales, was the dragon. 

Logan swallowed tightly. He’d never actually seen a dragon this close before. Their scales were are deep red, and they glistened in the light that the fire gave off. Their mouth was closed, but Logan could only imagine the rows of sharp teeth that hid in the dragon’s powerful jaws. Golden eyes stared down at Logan, watching him intently. And as the dragon leaned in towards Logan, he could see himself reflected in the dragon’s irises. 

“Hello, Prince Logan,” the dragon said. Their voice was low, and it vibrated deep in Logan’s chest. He caught sight of the sharp teeth as the dragon talked, and Logan glanced away. “Welcome to my lair.” 

“It’s -- nice,” Logan said, years of manners instilled in him taking over. The cave was far from being nice, but Logan didn’t think insulting the dragon’s living space was a good first move. 

The dragon leaned back a bit, and their jaw curved upward -- they were smiling. “It is, isn’t it?” They said, preening a bit. “It’s the best one you’ll find, and you can trust me on that. Have you ever  _ seen _ such a fantastic lair?” 

Logan didn’t offer up any answer, but instead looked more closely at his surroundings. He could see, where the cave curved away and off to the side, the glint of gold reflected off the stone floors. The dragon’s hoard was undoubtedly down there. The rest of the cave just looked like -- well, a cave. There wasn’t anything of significance that Logan could see. 

“What am I doing here?” Logan asked instead, turning back to frown up at the dragon. “What do you want from me?” 

“You’re my prisoner,” the dragon said proudly. 

Logan huffed out a breath. “Yes, I’m well aware of that fact. But what could I possibly offer to you? Do you want gold? Is that it?” 

“Do you know who I am?” The dragon asked, completely ignoring Logan’s questions. 

A muscle twitched in Logan’s jaw. “No, I don’t,” he said coldly. “Should I?” 

The dragon pulled themselves up to their hind legs, stretching up into their full height. Their red scales glinted in the torchlight. “I,” they said with the air of someone who thought they were far more important than they actually were, “am Roman the Magnificent.”

“That’s quite a name; did you come up with it yourself?” 

“It’s a name that inspires fear and awe into the hearts of men!” Roman said, proudly puffing out their chest. 

Logan scrubbed a hand over his face. “Quite.” 

Leaning forward, Roman squinted at Logan. “You don’t seem very fearful right now.” 

“Is that important?” Logan asked, trying to decide if he should just start trying to climb out of the cave himself or wait to see if the dragon would actually answer his questions. From the way this conversation was going, the former was beginning to seem like the better option. 

“Well, yes!” Roman sat back on their haunches and let out an annoyed snort. “You aren’t acting anything like you’re supposed to.” 

Logan was starting to see the benefits of scaling the wall. “And how should I be acting?” 

“Well, I’d prefer if you had a more healthy fear of me, but I suppose if you challenged me to a duel, I could live with that.” 

“A duel?” Logan eyed Roman. The dragon towered above him, and even seated as they were, the muscles that rippled under their skin were evident. It would be easy for Roman to injure him; one wrong move from the dragon could end with several broken limbs. 

“Yes!” The dragon wiggled excitedly. “I’ve got a rather impressive collection of weapons. You look like the type to use a sword, maybe a cutlass?” 

“You’re suggesting I  _ duel  _ you for my freedom?” Logan asked, frustration rising. 

“Well, you are a prince, aren’t you? That’s what princes do.” 

Logan opened his mouth to argue the point further, but Roman had lost interest in the conversation. They clambered back to their feet and lumbered away down the tunnel that led to their hoard, mumbling to themselves about swords. Huffing out a breath, Logan followed them. 

“What do you mean, ‘that’s what princes do’?” He asked, forced to jog behind Roman to keep up with their pace. “Seems like a rather large oversimplification to me.”

“You know, princes go out on adventures and fight all sorts of creatures,” Roman replied, their voice echoing back to Logan. “This is just another Tuesday afternoon for you.”

“Another Tuesday -- that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!” Logan spluttered. “I’m sure there are some princes who fit your description, but to insinuate that all princes are just adventure seeking --”

Roman stopped abruptly, and Logan nearly stumbled over their tail where it lay. They swung their large head around to stare at Logan. “Are you telling me you’ve never slayed a creature, dragon or otherwise?” 

“No,” Logan said shortly, pushing his glasses up his nose. 

“Rescued any damsels in distress from a tower?” 

Logan blinked. “That’s a very specific circumstance. I don’t think there’s any solitary towers in the kingdom, and certainly none occupied by any so called damsels.” 

Roman huffed a breath over Logan, and the sudden movement of air pushed the hair off of his forehead. “Just my luck. I got stuck with the boring prince.” 

“Excuse me?” Logan didn’t let out an undignified squawk, but it was a close thing. “First of all, you being stuck with me is  _ entirely  _ your fault, in case you’ve forgotten. I certainly didn’t ask to be kidnapped by a dragon today, thank you very much. And secondly, I am  _ not  _ boring!” 

“Could’ve fooled me,” Roman said sulkily, continuing to make their down the tunnel. 

Logan stood there for a few moments, taking the time to take a few breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. He was a diplomat by nature, and had talked his way out of plenty of altercations in the past. Logan knew he could talk his way out of this one as well, but yelling at the dragon would get him nowhere. 

“If you’re so displeased with me, why not just take me home?” Logan called after the dragon. 

“You know, this might be good for you!” Roman’s voice echoed back down the cave to where Logan stood. “First proper adventure and all. Maybe this will help you become a better prince!” The sound of metal shifting and falling followed Roman’s declaration, and then Logan heard Roman exclaim, “there it is!” 

Gritting his teeth, Logan followed the sounds, trying to grasp some thread of an argument to get himself out of this. If it had been anyone else, Logan would have full control of the conversation by now, and be successfully bartering the terms of some form of arrangement. But the dragon had such a single-minded determination that Logan couldn’t seem to break, no matter how hard he tried. 

Stepping out of the tunnel into another section of open cave, Logan was ready to try one more time to negotiate his freedom. But he lost his train of thought when he took in where he was. 

He was in the dragon’s hoard. 

Gold was piled all across the room, covering the floor and reaching up the walls of the cave to the ceiling. It was more gold than Logan had ever seen in his life; certainly much more gold than what was stored in the treasury at the heart of Logan’s own castle. 

But gold wasn’t the only thing that Roman seemed to hoard. Logan could make out all different types of armour littered about, some dented but most undamaged and polished to a shine. Books stood in teetering pillars, history and fiction alike. And weapons -- swords, bows and even a few canons -- lay half buried underneath the gold. 

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Roman asked with a toothy grin. They were curled up on one of the piles of gold, examining an array of swords in front of them. Hooking one with their claws, Roman tossed it over to Logan. It flew in a perfect arc and landed a few feet away, skidding to a halt at Logan’s feet. It was a cutlass, and the silver of the blade twinkled in the torchlight. “Here, you can use this one.” 

Logan bent down and picked the sword up, holding the handle gingerly between his fingers. “I can’t fight you.” 

“Why not?” Roman asked, making a face that Logan took to be a dragon’s best attempt at pouting. 

Logan had a rather long list of Reasons He Shouldn’t Fight Roman that he came up with rather soon after the dragon had first suggested it. One reason was the fact that the only person Logan had actually fought with a sword before (or in general, to be honest) was Virgil, the head knight back at the castle, back when Virgil insisted that Logan should know how to defend himself. Another was the fact that if Roman wanted to, he could set Logan on fire without blinking an eye. 

They were all very good reasons. 

  
  
“Well for starters, you’re roughly three times my size,” Logan pointed out. 

“Oh, is that all?” Roman blinked. “That’s not a problem.” 

Logan opened his mouth to argue because no, that was  _ not  _ all, and yes, that was actually a very big problem. But the words died in his throat when Roman disappeared. 

Well, disappeared was the wrong word. It looked as if Roman was folding in on themselves, getting smaller and smaller until the space the dragon had been occupying was empty. 

And someone else was standing in their place. 

The other person was most certainly a human, or at least they  _ looked  _ like a human. They had a mop of fiery red hair that fell into their eyes. A cloak was wrapped around their shoulders, long enough that it brushed the floor and made from red scales that sparkled and shimmered in the light. And their eyes -- their eyes were a deep gold. 

“Roman?” Logan asked, disbelief thick on his tongue. 

“The one and only,” they say with a wink, ruffling their hair. A smile curves across Roman’s face, showing off their teeth far too sharp to be mistaken as human. 

“Um, what? How?” Logan asked, at a loss for words. “How did you --” 

“Dragons can shapeshift,” Roman said with a shrug. “Most dragons can choose to shift into a form they find easier to move around in when their original form becomes a bit cumbersome, especially in places where a dragon isn’t wanted.” 

“So can all dragons shift into -- humans?” Logan asked, his curiosity taking over. He’d read a bit about dragons in the past, but he’d never read anything like this. 

“Technically, yes,” Roman said as he jumped to the floor and landed next to Logan. The short distance in between them made Logan aware that Roman still had a good few inches on him. “But a lot don’t like to take a human form; they think it’s too weak. Like this one guy, Dante. He’s interesting enough to talk to, but he can be a real prick sometimes, believe me. But anyway, he always shifted into a python for some reason. Likes snakes, that one.” 

“Do you do this often?” 

Roman shrugged. “Often enough. Only when I want to blend in, although it doesn’t always work out for obvious reasons.” They gestured to their eyes and bared their teeth a little. “Got myself thrown out of a castle that way, once.” 

“Really?” Logan asked, more out of a desire to distract the dragon than anything else. 

Roman nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes. They were having a ball, and I’ve always wanted to go to one of those. But then they noticed I wasn’t exactly human, and they threw me out before I got to dance! Can you believe that? The nerve of them!”

The fact that Roman had so desperately wanted to go to a ball that he’d tried to sneak into one struck Logan, and suddenly a plan was forming in his mind. 

“But that’s enough talk.” Roman bent down and picked up one of the swords that was lying nearby. He bounced it lightly in his palm, and then pointed it at Logan. “Is this better?” 

Logan looked at the sword in his own hands. He was still holding onto it loosely, and the tip was dragging on the ground. He looked back up at Roman. “What if you could go to a ball?” 

The sword point didn’t waver. “Sorry?” 

Logan squared his shoulders and took a breath. “Before you so rudely took me from my castle, I was helping to plan a ball as a celebrating for our new allies. How about instead of a duel, you return me home and come to the ball as my guest?” 

The point of the sword dipped from where it was leveled at Logan’s eyes. “Really?” 

“As long as I don’t have to fight you and you take me home, yes.” 

Logan watched Roman consider the offer closely. He knew that the dragon seemed rather intent on a sword fight, but he hoped the allure of a ball would be enough to get Roman to change their mind. 

After what felt like an eternity, Roman flashed Logan a grin that showed off his sharp teeth. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer, prince.” 

“Wonderful,” Logan said, shoulders slumping with relief. “Now if you don’t mind, could you put that sword down?” 

**Author's Note:**

> this is a secret santa gift for @magicallygrimmwiccan on tumblr! they asked for a fantasy logince au! i hope you like this, because i had a lot of fun writing it!!
> 
> the next chapter should be out in the next few days, in which logan and roman get to the ball and we meet up with virgil! 
> 
> thank you so much for reading!! :))


End file.
